Jackson APC
Confederate Jackson APC "There stands Jackson, like a stone wall!" :- Confederate Gen. Barnard Bee Tactical Analysis * Can Take a Hit: As an armoured personnel carrier, the Jackson can transport up to six infantry. Though it is unarmed, it makes up for that deficiency with its robustness and amphibious capability. * Playing Dixie: As troops disembark, the crew of the Jackson will usually shout either quotes from the Constitution or simple shouts of encouragement from roof mounted loudspeakers, raising troop morale and encouraging nearby Confederate soldiers to fight with more ferocity than normal. * Stop For Nothing: With a complete disregard for obstacles standing between them and their destination, Jackson drivers are known to simply knock aside infantry who try to stop them, and will smash their way through barricades as though they weren't there. * Gimme That Back! Crews who have been on the battlefield for a long time will usually salvage .50 cal heavy machine guns from destroyed Riptides (which ironically, had their machine guns taken from mothballed Jacksons) and mount them onto the pre-existing mounts, thus reuniting the Jacksons with their long lost companions. Operational History The M112A2 Retriever, or just Retriever, was a standard infantry transport introduced at a late stage of the Second World War (from 1953 to 1955), for the Allied Nations, and afterwards - for the Peacekeeper Divisions, until the development of the Riptide in 1962. The well armoured, slow-moving American made APC was intended to replace older half-tracks like the Whippet, although complete displacement of German trucks hasn't been reached. Originally, Retrievers had .50 cal heavy machine guns in special mounts, but when they were consigned to the Boneyard, the Allies stripped them of their Brownings to mount them on the first generation of Riptides. When the Confederates recovered the Retrievers from the Boneyard, they gave them the nickname of Jackson, in honour of the famous "Stonewall" Jackson of the original Confederates - although veterans of the Second World War sometimes joke by confusing those names. The refurbished Jacksons often have a MP122 speaker system, designed to simulate the effect of Soviet propaganda, and in addition allow the unarmed crew to affect the course of the battle by shouting cheerful chants, which they take upmost delight in doing. Behind the Scenes * The Jackson is based, more or less, on the APC from Red Alert 1, which is in turn based on the United States' M113 armoured personnel carrier. Just the Stats Reserve Retriever APC "A solid, dependable, box on treads. What more can you ask from an APC?" :- Overheard from a Reservist Defender Tactical Analysis *'Bulwark of the Reservists': The M112A3 Retriever is a superb if old-fashioned armoured personnel carrier, with room for six and the rather gruesome ability to crush enemy infantry. *'Ole Reliable': The Browning .50 cal heavy machine gun has been the Retriever's armament since it first rolled off the Allies assembly lines, and allows it to take down hostile infantry while its dismounting infantry find good positions to dig in and repel enemy advances. *'Beware of Tanks': Given the design of the Retriever, it has little means of defending itself from enemy armour, though its gun can target aircraft. It depends entirely on its transported infantry to cover the gaps in its ability to fight back against such threats. *'Moving Out, Double Quick': While the practice has been repeatedly banned, some creative drivers have taken to mounting remotely detonated claymore mines onto the fronts of their vehicles, which they can detonate to clear the way for their disembarking passengers. Operational History "Comfy seats." :- Another Reservist Defender During the early years of World War 2, the Allied Nations learned the hard lesson that the days of straight leg'd infantry was at an end. Unable to move their infantry divisions into place fast enough to support their comparatively light armoured divisions, they were forced to give up kilometre after kilometre of ground in the face of the imposing advance of Soviet heavy tanks. Thankfully, the reason for the Soviets’ nigh unstoppable advance, their heavily armoured and very slow tanks, also gave the Allies plenty of time to develop a solution to their problem, the M112 Retriever APC. Built on the basis of providing protection and speed to the infantry squad inside as they were transported to the combat zone while also providing covering fire as they dismounted, they were found to be a great success. Soon entire infantry divisions became true mechanized forces, safe inside their Retrievers against roaming YaK-5s and Hinds, the previous bane of the Allied infantryman, to disembark and unleash their anti-tank rocket launchers on the flanks of Soviet armour advances. Needless to say, this turn of events for infantry mobility was one of the major life saving events for the Allied Nations, allowing their entire force to work in tandem to overcome the Soviets' aggression, much to the dismay of the Soviets themselves as they were pushed back to eventual Allied victory (or stalemate, depending on who you ask). When the time finally came for the Allied Nations to produce a replacement, it was with a heavy heart that the new Peacekeeper Divisions decommissioned their Retrievers in favour of the more mobile and agile Riptide ACVs. But many of national militaries of Allied member states, given their practical mandate to defend and withstand external forces and not actively go out and try to seize new ground from the foe, kept their Retrievers, finding it superior when it came to defensive operations. Their Retrievers are now much improved from their forebears. The M112A3 sports an improved steel hull and stronger, a more efficient electric/gas hybrid engine, and a new mount that allows the machine gun to target aircraft with some effect. This updated version of the Retriever serves the militaries of the Allied Nations with pride, helping to transport and protect the foot soldiers of the Allied Nations as they fight against the enemies that would see freedom destroyed. Blue China Retriever Mortar Tank Tactical Analysis *'Pop gun': The Blue Chinese have modified their Retrievers with rapid-fire 75mm mortars. While these weapons are weak, in numbers they can saturate a patch of ground with explosives. *'Dance, Commie': The Retrievers are also equipped with "Toe-popper" mine shells, which spread tiny mines across the battlefield. While these mines are not extremely powerful on their own, they can immobilize infantry and slow vehicles. *'Leave us Alone': However, the Mortar Tank has no way of defending itself against aircraft, as well as enemies which get within the tank's minimum range. *'Raining Crystals': Jade tipped penetrators have proven surprisingly effective when it comes to penetrating tank armour, and Mortar Tank crews who have made off with stockpiles of such weapons will usually put them to good use in combat. Before the Bombs Because the Nationalists relied so heavily on strong defensive lines, they had little need for heavy assault or airborne transports. Whippets move men between defensive positions, and regular trucks and railroads are used to get men and materiel to the front lines, with the idea that if the Communists were able to attack the supply lines, Blue China would already have worse problems on their hands. Not quite understanding the situation, the Allies sent several shipments of Retriever APCs to Nanjing. Because they had to use them for something, the Nationalists took advantage of the APC's heavy armour and sturdy frame and mounted 75mm auto-loaded mortars on them. The heavy recoil and poor accuracy of the light artillery pieces was offset by their long range and relatively high rate of fire. Protected by the Retriever's armour plating, groups of these Mortar Tanks would lay down a hail of small but deadly artillery shells. Blue China armouries also received shipments of "toe-popper" mine shells. Each shell was filled with several tiny explosives designed to explode if stepped on. While in the war in Europe these mines were good for little more than tearing up a good pair of boots, the often bare-footed Red Guard have learned to fear and despise them. If the Nationalists were lucky, the explosion could also wreck a vehicle's tracks or wheels. After the Bombs As the Chinese Civil War drew into its later years, supplies became increasingly scarce. When the Allied Nations, the Nationalists' main source of funding, found itself embroiled in the Third World War, the Nationalists soon found that the aid they were receiving had died down to a trickle, as all efforts were redirected to Europe. Without the aid of the Allied Nations, the Blue Chinese only had whatever they could produce by themselves. What they couldn't produce by themselves, such as the "toe-popper" mine shells, they had to carefully ration. Of course, the situation would only get worse after China was reduced to an irradiated wasteland. With virtually all production destroyed and no sign of any outside relief on the horizon, the survivors had only whatever was left, and in many cases many things suddenly became precious, limited commodities. Predictably, people began to hoard, and people began to steal. Most people will do at least one of the two, and many will do both. The people most notorious for such behaviour, however, are the operators of the surviving Mortar Tanks. The Retrievers remain potent weapons in post-apocalyptic China, and for this they are highly sought by warlords, something which the operators of Mortar Tanks have learnt to exploit. Always seeking supplies and treasures for themselves, they hoard whatever they can in the spacious holds of their vehicles, and they will pledge themselves to the highest bidder. So long as they are kept fed and their vehicle is kept fuelled and they have ample ammunition for their mortars, they will lend their firepower to your cause. However, should you run out of supplies, or should some other warlord make a better offer, then they will not remain loyal for long. Most of the time, they will make off with whatever they can, and seek out another warlord who still has supplies to bribe them with. In the wasteland that is China, what others call generosity is merely a sign of weakness. Category:Units Category:Units Originating from the United States